Media: Lithuania sentences two to prison for spying for Belarus

A district court in the Lithuanian city of Klaipėda has found Mindaugas Januitis and Tatiana Beletskaya guilty of espionage in favour of Belarus and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms.

According to the court ruling, Januitis was sentenced to seven years in prison, while Beletskaya received six and a half years, Caliber.Az reports, citing Lithuanian media.

More than two years already spent in custody will be credited toward their sentences.

Both defendants will remain in detention until the verdict enters into force.

The court found that the defendants acted as an organised group and carried out tasks assigned by Belarusian military intelligence.

Based on case materials, they established contact with representatives of military structures in Minsk in 2022 and, until their arrest in 2023, collected and transmitted information of interest to foreign military structures in Lithuania and Latvia.

Although the information transmitted did not constitute state secrets, the court said it could be used in military planning against Lithuania.

The verdict may be appealed within 20 days.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov